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Pat Sawler
902-465-5533
HALIFAX OFFICE:
1959 Upper Water Street
Suite 1301
Halifax, NS B3J 3N2
SURREY OFFICE:
7404 King George Blvd
Suite 200
Surrey, British Columbia, V3W 1N6
Nova Scotia Brokerage 2021-3000179
Broker 2021-3000180
Weigh your options
With the most recent move by the bank of Canada, it may be time to look at the age old dilemma of fixed vs variable mortgages. Sure over the past few years it made mathematical sense to take and stay with a variable rate mortgage. However the tides may have turned and it is an […]
Interest Rate Hike
Well the Bank of Canada met this morning for the last time this year and hiked the overnight interest rate by 50 basis points or a half a percentage point. This means that those with variable rate mortgages and home equity lines of credit will have to pay more to service the debt. This is […]
Buckle Up
So most of the economists in Canada are predicting a 25 to 50 basis point increase to the over night lending rate tomorrow. This will mean that prime rate which effects our variable rate mortgages and home equity lines of credit will also go up by the same amount. When you know something unpleasant is […]
Soap Box
Just because you have the biggest soap box and are the CEO of several large firms ( which shall remain nameless) does not mean that the financial regulators in your country have to listen to and follow your advice. Yes these recent rate hikes have been painful to business owners and consumers alike, but it […]
Slow Progress
Slow progress is still progress. The latest economic figures are out and the Canadian GDP grew by .7% in the third quarter compared to the estimate of .4%. At an annualized rate the economy grew by 2.9% in the third quarter. While still not a recession the rate of growth has been shrinking over the […]
Cookie Cutter
There is no cookie cutter or one size fits all solution when it comes to your mortgage requirements. Just like all clients are not suitable for the same mortgage product, I am equally not suitable with all clients. What works for one person may not nor will not work for another. This is why it […]
Know your number
For this post I am not talking about your SIN number or your age, phone number, work or student ID number. For this I am taking about your credit score. In order to qualify for a mortgage you must know your credit score and if it is poor how to improve it quickly. Although you […]
Down Payment Assistance
Sometimes clients have the desire, the income, the credit but not the means to make home ownership possible. It’s for this reason that Nova Scotia created the down payment assistance program. Through this program they will lend you interest free a down payment up to 5% of the purchase price of your new property. There […]
Language
I am not talking about you being a potty mouth but the actual language and words that you use to communicate. More precisely I want to reference to what the US Fed chair Jerome Powell said at their most recent meeting this week. While Canada and the US are two distinct countries, we are pretty […]
Take your lumps
Well the Bank of Canada gave us our lumps yesterday, another rate increase of 50bps. It’s our medicine and we have to take it so we can start to win this war against inflation. The increase wasn’t as bad as many had expected, I don’t think that it was due to any outside political pressure […]
The Fine Print
The Bank of Canada will come out with their latest interest rate announcement at 10am eastern or 11am here in the Maritimes. While many of us are expecting at least a 75bps increase to the overnight lending rate, the real meat and potatoes will be in the press release from the meeting. The devil truly […]
Expectations
Does the expectation of an unpleasant event make the experience worse? Does the boxer feel it less than the guy who got sucker punched at the bar? Having emergency surgery any less painful than the one that has been planned months in advance? Getting let go from your job that you have worked at for […]
Plan Ahead
Now that my annual filing is complete for my license here in NS, it’s time to shift the focus from the past and plan for a prosperous future. That’s not to say that the past year wasn’t good, it was, however like with anything in life the goal is to constantly improve. The standards that […]
To Stay or go?
Most of us are familiar with the classic song by The Clash ” Should I stay or should I go”. Well right now that applies to those of us in variable rate mortgages. There has been a lot of nervousness about staying in a variable rate and riding out the Bank of Canada rate announcements […]
Market Place
Just this past week CBC Marketplace did an episode on mortgage fraud. To me it showed the lengths that some people would go to get a commission as the instances he demonstrated were initiated by the realtor in cahoots with a dishonest mortgage broker/bank mortgage specialist. Just so everyone knows we are in a 100% […]